Thank you Janet & Jeff for your replies Jeff you mentioned that railway workers were required to read and write "which was unusual at this time for Ag Labs" On Richards 1841 Birmingham marriage certificate his occupation was railway guard, (he was a station master later) and lists his father Harry as a "Game Keeper" I presume a game keeper was a slight step up in farming hierarchy, so would it be possible for this household be able to read and write? I have not found any confirmation of his father being a game keeper, so I am not sure if he was trying to impress the city folks by putting this occupation down for his dad. I have read articles about game keepers not being liked in the communities were they lived, as they prevented the local ag labs from augmenting a meager diet with meat and his employer thought he was being cheated by his game keeper anyway! Can any one confirm this theory and is there any "registers or lists" of game keepers? Thank you any information would be appreciated Brian on a very wet morning on The Sunshine Coast Sechelt BC

Brian The Gloucestershire RO does have a register of game keepers. But don't get your hopes up. My Great Grandfather (from Lower Slaughter) listed his father's occupation as game keeper when he married, but there was no sign of him on the register. I suspect this was just wishful thinking, as it turned out GGF was illegitimate, almost certainly by one of the family of the Lower Slaughter Manor (Whitworths). Jon Baker -----Original Message----- Can any one confirm this theory and is there any "registers or lists" of game keepers?